Champlain's Undergrad Game Design Program Ranks #14 in 2017 Princeton Review "Top 50"

Champlain Senior Game Studio class

The Princeton Review has released its eighth annual ranking lists naming the best undergraduate and graduate schools for students to study and launch a career in-game design. Champlain College's undergraduate Game Design program is ranked #14 in The Princeton Review's "Top 50 Undergraduate Schools to Study Game Design for 2017."

The full lists, which name the "Top 50" undergraduate and "Top 25" graduate schools, are posted at Top Schools for Game Design 2017. There, users can also get information on The Princeton Review's methodology for this project and its detailed profiles of the schools with guidance for applicants on their programs, admission requirements, and financial aid.

Learn more about Champlain's Game Design programs

The Princeton Review chose the schools based on its 2016 survey of 150 institutions in the U.S., Canada and abroad offering game design degree programs or courses. The 40-question survey gathered data on everything from the schools' game design academic offerings and lab facilities to their graduates' starting salaries and career achievements. More than 40 data points in four areas (academics, faculty, technology, and career) were analyzed to tally the lists.

"Game design is an exciting field and programs are springing up in colleges all over the world," said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review's Editor in Chief. "We want to help students find the best program for their needs and interests. The top schools on our lists have outstanding faculties and great facilities which will give students the skills and experience they need to pursue a career in this dynamic and burgeoning field."

Undergrad and grad students enrolled in the schools that made the lists also gain valuable professional experience while in school. According to The Princeton Review's 2016 survey of administrators at the schools, about 89% of their undergrad and/or graduate game design students that graduated in their 2016 classes developed actionable plans to launch games while in school. Moreover, 57% of undergrads and 65% of grad students at these school programs worked on games that were shipped before they graduated.

The Princeton Review has reported its game design program rankings annually since 2010. It has teamed up with PC Gamer, a monthly magazine published by Future plc, as its reporting partner on this project since 2013. PC Gamer's May issue has a feature on the ranking lists that details the schools' unique programs, prominent professors, and alumni. The issue lands in subscriber mailboxes this week and on newsstands 3/28.

The Princeton Review is also known for its annual rankings of colleges, business schools, and law schools in dozens of categories it reports on its site and in its books including The Best 381 Colleges and Colleges That Pay You Back. For more information, visit The Princeton Review.


Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a small, not-for-profit, private college in Burlington, Vermont, with additional campuses in Montreal, Canada, and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain offers a traditional undergraduate experience from its beautiful campus overlooking Lake Champlain and over 90 residential undergraduate and online undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificates. Champlain's distinctive career-driven approach to higher education embodies the notion that true learning occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 384 Colleges: 2019 Edition. For the fourth year in a row, Champlain was named a "Most Innovative School" in the North by U.S. News & World Report's 2019 "America's Best Colleges,” and a “Best Value School” and is ranked in the top 100 “Regional Universities of the North” and in the top 25 for “Best Undergraduate Teaching.” Champlain is also featured in the Fiske Guide to Colleges for 2019 as one of the "best and most interesting schools" in the United States, Canada and Great Britain and is a 2019 College of Distinction. For more information, visit champlain.edu.